Schizophrenia is a complex mental disorder typically appearing in late adolescence or early adulthood with a world-wide prevalence of approximately 1% of the adult population, which has enormous social and economic impact. The criteria of the Association of European Psychiatrists (ICD) and the American Psychiatric Association (DSM) for the diagnosis of schizophrenia require two or more characteristic symptoms to be present: delusions, hallucinations, disorganized speech, grossly disorganized or catatonic behavior (positive symptoms), or negative symptoms (alogia, affective flattening, lack of motivation, anhedonia). As a group, people with schizophrenia have functional impairments that may begin in childhood, continue throughout adult life and make most patients unable to maintain normal employment or otherwise have normal social function. They also have a shortened lifespan compared to the general population, and suffer from an increased prevalence of a wide variety of other neuropsychiatric syndromes, including substance abuse, obsessive-compulsive symptoms and abnormal involuntary movements prior to antipsychotic treatment. Schizophrenia is also associated with a wide range of cognitive impairments, bipolar disorders, major depression and anxiety disorders, the severity of which limits the functioning of patients, even when psychotic symptoms are well controlled.
The primary treatment of schizophrenia is antipsychotic medications. Antipsychotics, for example risperidone, olanzapine, however, fail to significantly ameliorate the negative symptoms and cognitive dysfunction.
Antipsychotic drugs have shown clinical efficacy for the treatment of the following diseases:
Fibromyalgia, which is a syndrome characterized by chronic generalized pain associated with different somatic symptoms, such as sleep disturbances, fatigue, stiffness, balance problems, hypersensitivity to physical and psychological environmental stimuli, depression and anxiety (CNS Drugs, 2012 26(2):135-53).Schizoaffective disorders: includes psychotic and affective symptoms, this disorder falls on a spectrum between bipolar disorders (with depressive and manic episodes, alcohol and drug addiction, substance abuse) and schizophrenia. (J. Clin. Psychiatry, 2010, 71, Suppl. 2, 14-9; Pediatr. Drugs 2011 13 (5), 291-302)Major depression: BMC Psychiatry 2011 11; 86.Treatment resistent depression: Journal of Psychopharmacology 2012 26(5)587.Anxiety: European Neuropsychopharmacology 2011 21:429-449.Bipolar disorders: Encephale, International J. of Neuropsychopharmacology 2011 14:1029-104, International J. of Neuropsychopharmacology, 2012 p. 1-12, J. of Neuropsychopharmacology, 2011 0(0), 1-15.Mood disorders: J. Psychopharmacol 2012, Jan. 11, CNS Drugs 2010 Feb. 24(2):131-61.Autism: Current opinion in pediatrics 2011 23:621-627; J. Clin. Psychiatry 2011 72(9), 1270-1276.Alzheimer's disease: J. Clin. Psychiatry 2012 73(1), 121-128.Parkinson's disease: Movement Disorders 2011 Vol. 26, No. 6.Chronic fatigue syndrome: European Neuropsychopharmacology 2011 21:282-286.Borderline Personality disorder: J. Clin. Psychiatry 2011 72 (10), 1363-1365. J. Clin. Psychiatry 2011 72(10):1353-1362.
Anti-inflammatory effects in arthritis: European J. of Pharmacology 2012 678:55-60.